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Batman Th Long Halloween is probably one of the best batman graphic novels I have ever read. I love the artwork. And the story line is brilliant especially the the fact that it includes Gotham's crime lords in the story.
It carries forward with the characters as they are revealed in the original work, and works especially to develop the personalities of the Gotham City crime families and Harvey Dent. In my review of Frank Miller's 'Batman: Year One,' I longed for more material; I complained that the work was too short. Loeb's 'Long Halloween' is a perfect fulfillment of Miller's source work. It also features appearnces by a whole host of classic Gotham villains. Not to be missed.
The way Loeb & Sale blended in the bas-fonds of Gotham's mafia with Bruce/Batman is so delightful that even the "clowns" just seem to fall in place and leave the stage in a natural way.
***It would be a good idea to have read Batman: Year One before reading this graphic novel.***Batman: The Long Halloween is a master piece of literary and artistic craftsmanship from Jeph Loeb (Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: Hush, Superman/Batman Vol. While the mystery is revealed at the end, there still remains the question as to whether or not they were the only only one acting as Holiday (for more on this go to: ). Known only as Holiday (because he strikes on holidays), this serial killer is stalking all persons affiliated with the Roman Empire and Falcone's chief rival Salvatore "Boss" Maroni.
All three of these men want the same thing: to rid Gotham City of organized crime and its master crime lord Carmine "the Roman" Falcone, and the three decide to form a pact to bring down the "Roman Empire". The fun of this story is trying to figure out the main mystery: Who is Holiday. 1: Public Enemies) and Tim Sale (Batman: Haunted Knight, Catwoman: When in Rome (Batman), Superman for All Seasons) that served as the inspiration for the 2008 billion-dollar-grossing box office blockbuster The Dark Knight.A conservative estimate places this story about a year after "Batman: Year One"; Batman is an established crime fighter feared by the mob, James Gordon is an honorable GCPD Captain, and Harvey Dent is the crusading district attorney.
The original story took place over 13 issues for 13 months from Halloween to Halloween, during which time both Falcone and Maroni have suffered incalculable losses and a blow is delivered to the three key players that may threaten to destroy them all as the newest as most conflicted of freaks arises to join Batman's Rogues Gallery.This is a phenomenal story that was originally adapted from "Batman Annual #14: Eye of the Beholder" which cataloged the downfall of Harvey Dent into the villainous Two-Face; TLH simply elaborates upon this same concept in a way that is far more satisfying. Caught up in the madness of this seemingly impossible task are a host of what the cops and mob call "freaks" (costumed criminals) including: The Joker, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, The Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter, and Catwoman (who between her double life as Selina Kyle, the on-again-off-again main squeeze of Bruce Wayne, and her nights playing catch-me-if-you-can with Batman, has set her own interests in the "Roman Empire" (for reasons not fully explained until "Catwoman: When in Rome")). However, in the midst of the good guys versus the bad guys, a new player has arisen.
There are a row of suspects put forward throughout the story, among whom include: Catwoman, Harvey Dent, even Falcone and Maroni themselves. Do not miss this masterpiece or its companions "Haunted Knight" and "Dark Victory".
Another huge pro in this book is Catwoman. It takes place not too long after that story ended. There is a point where there is just about every super villain (including The Penguin, who has no other place in the story) vs. The other problem I have with this story is the ending. As stated earlier, the book maintains a very good level of suspense. There is a killer dubbed the Holiday Killer who kills someone related to the mob boss every holiday. But more on that later).
Not only does the Holiday Killer attract a team of Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent, but also gets a big attention from the mob.This story is definitely a page-turner and a very good Batman tale. The biggest problem I have with is is fairly congruent with most 2-3 star reviews. Batman: The Long Halloween is sort of a sequel to Batman: Year One by Frank Miller. Mr. Loeb could have subtracted 3 or 4 of these villains and maybe it would have made more sense. There are about 3 twists in the last 10 pages that are unnecessary.For every con with this book there are many more pros. Some things could have been worked better in my opinion, but the majority of the book works well on many levels. All in all I would rate this book at 3.5 stars.
This graphic novel focuses more on Batman's battle with the mob than it does with other super-villains (though pretty much every super villain is in it. Her portrayal here is one of the best I've read. Batman. Batman then takes them all out in less than 3 pages. Another excellent thig about this book is the relationship between Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent. Do yourself a favor and buy it on Amazon as the $13.59 price is going to be much less expensive than anywhere else.
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